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Breitbart says that President Obama is pushing the story that he’s a gun fan because he shoots skeet at Camp David. So, you know, he’s just like the rest of us. The interview was in The New Republic;

FF: Have you ever fired a gun?

Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time.

FF: The whole family?

Not the girls, but oftentimes guests of mine go up there. And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake.

Part of being able to move this forward is understanding the reality of guns in urban areas are very different from the realities of guns in rural areas. And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were ten, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family’s traditions, you can see why you’d be pretty protective of that.

So it’s trying to bridge those gaps that I think is going to be part of the biggest task over the next several months. And that means that advocates of gun control have to do a little more listening than they do sometimes.

Yeah, gun control advocates are so good at listening aren’t they? Look at Adam Kokesh’s video below for the listening example.

I do a little skeet shooting myself. Old Trooper and TSO saw me dominate the Hillbilly Hunt Club shoot out last year. But it’s the first time I’ve done that in more than 30 years. Shooting skeet isn’t much of a gun sport actually – it’s standing there while someone throws a target for you (I’m sure that Camp David has a machine for that, though). Once you figure out the mechanics of it, shooting skeet is easy – easier than shooting at a bird.

But, then, I doubt that Obama has shot any skeet, anyway. We would have seen photos by now if he had. He’s just trying to assuage our fears by chumming up to us with his shared experience.

Comments (22)

I concur, Jonn. Until I see photos and/or see some withness corroboration, I’m doubting this claim also. The current POTUS simply doesn’t strike me as a “skeet” kinda guy. And like you, I suspect we’d have seen photos by now if he’d ever given it a shot (intentional pun).

While, I generally agree with the article Jonn, I have to point out that what you describe is shooting clay pigeons, not skeet. (It’s akin to the difference between clips and magazines.)

Skeet is a specific, regulated shooting match, where the shooter stands on specific spots, while the target (clay pigeons) are mechanically thrown at specific velocities, from 2 towers (high house/low house). The shooter moves in a counter clockwise manner, shooting either one or two targets with each “pull,” until he has been presented a total of 25 targets. EVERY skeet course is supposed to be set up with such precision that there is no variation between any two courses.

The result is that a well practiced and skilled skeet shooter can often shoot 98 or 99 targets out of 100, (4 courses of fire on the field). And there are shooters that can complete the course of fire blind-folded, or with a single barrel shotgun (reloading for the second target).

Related shooting sports include trap and sporting clays. Trap targets are always thrown away from the shooter, but not on a designated path. (again, 25 targets in a course of fire).

Sporting clays is the most challenging of the 3, and the newest. (50 targets) I have at times described it as a hybrid of golf & shooting, as one walks through a series of stations, and is presented with a wide variety of targets (thrown straight up, bouncing across the ground, nearly straight towards you, or directly away, etc.)

If I remember correctly, skeet was used by the Army in WWII to train AA gunners, and bomber machine gunners, to track and shoot down moving targets, prior to the live fire on drones. It would also be a good practice for sniper candidates for the moving target range.

As a point of interest, there have been published complaints about the inhumane killing of “clay pigeons,” by the PETA types, by those evil shotgunners.

There are a great number of shooters that hit 24 out of 25 in skeet/trap, but the goal of perfection keeps them coming back and interested. It can be addictive. There are few that come close to perfection in sporting clays, which by regulations must regularly be changed up, so that shooters don’t get complacent with target presentation.

Here’s an article — I think the actual interview — in which da prez says he’s fired a gun. Note also, he would have definite second thoughts about letting a son play football because it is such a violent and dangerous sport.

@5: Trust, me, Jonn was shooting skeet, because the clays were coming out high, low, against the barn (TSO), and anywhere else they could go and he was standing in designated spots that varied from time to time. As a witness to this, I can say that Jonn absolutely destroyed it.

As for Obama, he would wet his diaper just holding a shotgun, let alone firing it.

“Yes, in fact, up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time”. Um, no, if you ever picked up a shotgun and actually pulled the trigger while shooting skeet, most folks would say, “we(I) shoot skeet”. However, for the D.C. metrosexual, they would “do” coffee, or “do” dinner.
As others have said, the 2nd Amendment isn’t about hunting, or shooting sports.

When the Bill of Rights was penned, it was largely assumed that hunting was a normal part of life during that time, particularly since hunting was the main method for folks to sustain themselves in order to provide meat for their families. (There weren’t too many meat markets around, obviously.) The Founding Fathers knew this, which is the reason why the Bill of Rights is silent on the matter.

Common sense seems to have prevailed back then… but fast forward some 230 years later, not so much.

Until the end of his natural born days, the future ex-President need not ever worry about his own self-defense. In his post-presidential days, he will always have an armed and trained protection force, (which he’ll probably charge rent, like the Clintons do), from the premiere protection force in the world. That force will be armed with all of the weapons which he and Finestain hope to ban ownership to the commoners.

With that in mind, I asked myself, how would we(I) react if he attempted to be less hypocritical, and rid himself of those armed security professionals? I’d call him an idealistic idiot, but as importantly, the Secret Service would tell him that it isn’t his choice, just as they told him it was no longer his choice to use an unencrypted iPhone.

The Constitution does not state that the POTUS has no choice in his own protection, yet, he does not. The American People have an implicit right to political stability, i.e. to the protection of the POTUS from assassination.

Similarly, he has no choice in the protection of the 2nd Amendment. He may not like that he is protected by men with scary looking ACTUAL (automatic) assault weapons, high capacity magazined pistols, and long range sniper rifles, but he does not have the right to end that protection. He may not like that the people have a right to bear arms, but he does not have an option to infringe on that right.

And the ONLY differences are that one (2nd Amendment) binds him and every other politician, while the other is based in the implicit duties of the Secret Service. AND that one is not being defended by those politicians while the other is not being questioned, by anyone.

This were a Republican it would be Skeetgate. Yeah, Emperor Obozo got mocked and needled a little bit by the press, but it’ll blow over and be forgotten…MSM back to regular business as the Obama Protection Society.

Does B. Hussein 0bama have any time to even learn how to load and handle a firearm in between his fundraisers, vacations, and golf outings? We’re talking about a metrosexual POTUS that rides a bicycle wearing a helmet and running shoes!

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We are all military combat veterans and we write primarily from that perspective. Everyone who writes here has a Combat Infantry Badge, a Combat Medic Badge, a Combat Action Badge or a Combat Action Ribbon. We write about issues that matter to combat veterans..read more »